On the same page?

[imoldernu]

One of the most fascinating parts of reading posts on ER, is the wide variances of the members' income and lifestyles. Living costs in their home town, age 30's to 80's, being single, married, or with a family.

There are so many factors that are non comparable, that I think it may be well to put into perspective some of the differences, just within the United States. One of the first items that shows the extremes is that of the median household salary, which ranges from $44K to $80K in the highest paid state, and the lowest paid state. Just think...theoretically, over 45 years of employment, that would mean total comparative incomes from $20 million to $36 million.

Where does your state fall in the continuum?
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2018/10/08/wealth-america-household-income-richest-poorest-states/38051359/

Here's the website with statistics of all kinds based on cities. If you haven't checked out your hometown, this is a good way to obtain perspective... Your town compared to the state averages. Home value, tax rate, family size, population by race, age, education , male/female, average age, and a few dozen even more detailed items, such as sex offenders and crime rates.

City-Data.com - Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, crime, house prices, cost of living, races, home value estimator, recent sales, income, photos, schools, maps, weather, neighborhoods, and more

When you go to the website, have a little patience, as the billions of statistics are sorted out.

IMHO, not visiting this website before deciding on a retirement hometown, is the worst mistake you could make. Yes... When you're planning, the differences in amenities, taxes, housing, and the lifestyles commensurate with income are not always apparent.

In my case, we lived in Lisle, Il., next to Naperville, Il, with a similar socioeconomic status, and with a current average income of $116,000. We moved to Peru, Il... about 90 miles away, and with a median income of $51,000. It's a much nicer, quieter, town with no traffic problems, with kinder, more pleasant people, and all of the comparable facilities, and shopping. The housing is less than half the cost, and we figure our total expenses are about 40% less.
Example... our former home taxes are now @12,700, while we pay $2600 for where we live today.

FWIW, being on the same page is not necessarily the best choice for early retirement.

 

[DenverGuy42]

... One of the first items that shows the extremes is that of the median household salary, which ranges from $44K to $80K in the highest paid state, and the lowest paid state. Just think...theoretically, over 45 years of employment, that would mean total comparative incomes from $20 million to $36 million.
...

I think you might have multiplied wrong.

44,000 * 45 = 1,980,000

80,000 * 45 = 3,825,000

but even so, that isn't a fair representation of the numbers - since at the beginning of the 45 years you were likely earning a whole lot less (in inflation adjusted dollars). If you assume 80k as the ending salary and run the numbers backwards (assuming a 3% COLA raise as an example), the number is closer to 2,000,000 or 1,111,000 for a 44k ending salary...

so still close the same order of difference (make twice as much at the end, you will have earned about twice as much over all time) - 2 times - but not tens of millions

 

[Teacher Terry]

Our median income locally is 55k which is not enough with a starter home st 350 and rent is 1600-2000 for a 2 bedroom apartment.

 

[imoldernu]

I think you might have multiplied wrong.

44,000 * 45 = 1,980,000

80,000 * 45 = 3,825,000

but even so, that isn't a fair representation of the numbers - since at the beginning of the 45 years you were likely earning a whole lot less (in inflation adjusted dollars). If you assume 80k as the ending salary and run the numbers backwards (assuming a 3% COLA raise as an example), the number is closer to 2,000,000 or 1,111,000 for a 44k ending salary...

so still close the same order of difference (make twice as much at the end, you will have earned about twice as much over all time) - 2 times - but not tens of millions

You are right, but....

Numbers is fun!

What's a few zeros between friends?

Still, using 45 year historical inflation, the differences would be 11 million and 19 million.... $44,000 in 1974 (45 years ago) would be $240,000yr. today, and the $80,000, would be $436,000yr.

 

[imoldernu]

Our median income locally is 55k which is not enough with a starter home st 350 and rent is 1600-2000 for a 2 bedroom apartment.

An excellent example of the kind of variances we see. In Peru, the median income is $51,000 and the median home price is $131,000. Our 1560sf Villa in our Liberty Village CCRC now averages a sell price of $170K to $180K.

The numbers in the City-Data site are fascinating and checking out prices in Zillow even more amazing... Our first house, bought in Falmouth, Mass , cost us $12,000 in 1963 and is now for sale for $475,000. Location, location, location.

Then we have this....

With a median annual household income of $16,715, Centreville is not only the poorest town in Illinois, but also the poorest in the United States. The median household income in both Illinois and the United States as a whole is more than three times the median income in Centreville. The town is also one of only four nationwide where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line.

 

[donheff]

Interesting site and fun to play around with. Location is everything in these matters but is only a factor if you are ready and interested in moving.